1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a load securing element and a system for securing a load, which comprises a load securing element of this type. Elements and systems of this type are required, in particular, in the transportation of vehicles on a vehicle transporter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transporters for passenger cars or other land vehicles typically generally have tracks consisting of steel sheet, on which the vehicles to be transported can be driven for loading and unloading and on which the vehicles stand during transportation. In transporters, which can transport a plurality of passenger cars, the tracks are generally configured as narrow paths adapted to the width of the wheels of the vehicles to be transported, while in vehicles intended for individual transport, such as tow trucks, they generally extend over the entire width of the respective transport vehicle.
Independently of their shaping, the transport paths of vehicle transporters are generally provided with regularly arranged punched holes in order to ensure a good grip for the wheels of the vehicles to be transported. Moreover, the openings are used to fasten position securing devices, with which the respective vehicle is fixed during transportation. These load securing devices are stop means, typically bands or chains, which hook by their one end by means of a conventional hook in one of the openings of the transport path and are placed around the wheels of the respective vehicle.
The respective stop means is then braced by its other end by means of a tensioning device also hooked into one of the openings of the transport path. In order to ensure a secure hold of the vehicles during transportation, substantial tensioning forces are necessary. This applies, in particular, when the transport path is arranged obliquely in relation to the carriageway on which the transport vehicle is travelling. In this case, the load securing device does not only have to absorb the dynamic forces occurring during travelling, but also the weight forces caused by the vehicle's own weight.
The high tensioning forces required for a secure hold lead, at the track openings, at which the stop means of the load securing device are braced against the track, to considerable loads of the edge regions surrounding the respective opening. These can go so far that the sheet metal of the track deforms until the yield strength of the steel material is exceeded and lasting deformations or cracks are produced. If damage of this type occurs at one of the openings of the track, this can no longer be used as the hooks of the stop means and the tensioning devices required for bracing can no longer be securely hooked thereto. The damage caused by the loads occurring during the bracing of the stop means can go so far that the tracks as a whole are no longer adequately stable and accordingly have to be exchanged. A further problem is that it is no longer ensured in a deformation of the respective edge region of an opening of the transport path that the hook of the tensioning means is securely held. Rather, the risk exists of the hook sliding out of the opening as a result of the dynamic forces additionally loading it during transportation, so the respective vehicle is also no longer secured.